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summer color

At the back end of my garden I have a large flower bed. Most of the rooms in the house can see this bed.

At it's widest point it measures 25 by 80 feet and has a lath shading about half of it.

I use this large bed for perennials and front it with annuals. For about 10 months of the year we have something blooming here (this is California folks!). First in late winter or early spring we see the wisteria and peonies. Next will come the roses and hydrangeas. Next to bloom are the hollyhocks, shasta daisies, gladioli, dahlia, hosta, jasmine, daylilies and finally the cannas. The bed is mostly underplanted with flowering sweet woodruff. Up until Christmas we usually have some scraggly roses and hydrangeas hanging on until January when we prune back, (remember, California). Then it starts all over again.

Right now it's all about the showiest flower of all, the annual zinnias I plant yearly on the sunny front border. My old standbys are the 3' tall State Fair, the smaller Lilliput and the smaller still Pinwheel. I start them by seed in my greenhouse in early spring and set them out late spring. This year I also planted marigolds, petunias and begonias from flats from the garden center. I was having so many events in my back yard this spring and summer I could not afford to be without a decent show of flowers at any time!

The zinnias are at their peak right now. I was traveling when they should have been "pinched back" in order to create a fuller plant and so missed my window, but they still look beautiful. Please excuse my iphone pics.

Have you tried Butter by London? It's a true lacquer, this is just one coat of Blowing Raspberries. It flows so easily, it makes me want to throw out my other polish.

You can imagine what I'm about to do. Yes, weed and deadhead. Today with my silly new granddog as company!

Yay for California indeed! Zinnias are a favorite summer flower and I have so enjoyed the photos of yours (iphone is perfectly OK!). But my favorite part is the nail polish. When I saw that photo I immediately thought of Twisted Knitter...and then I come to leave a comment - and there she is! Y'all are inspiring me to get back into a manicure habit. Thank you! (I think...it is time away from knitting!)